Netflix is now 20 years old

Netflix turned 20 yesterday and continues the tradition of excellent storytelling and dramas. With best selling shows such as House of Cards, Stranger Things and Daredevil under its name, Netflix has more than 103.9 million users worldwide and it generated around $8.83 billion in 2016 alone, it is the 10th largest internet company in regards to revenue.

Founded way back in 1991 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, Netflix initially intended to sell or rent DVDs but they moved to a streaming model in 2007 as the web started to mature. From that point onwards, their business has continued to go up and in 2016 alone, they released 126 original shows on their platform. The company has around 3,500 employees worldwide.

The story of any startup is thrilling and Netflix is no different. It was initially called Kibble and focused on selling or renting DVDs. The founders admitted that advertising was pointless unless the users found any interest in the product. Therefore the company was renamed to Netflix in 1998 and a subscription model was introduced the next year. The company went public in 2002 and adopted the streaming model in 2007. From that point onwards, popular shows mentioned above and more continued to increase the popularity of the streaming service and in January, 2016, Netflix went live in over 130 countries simultaneously.

Netflix’s notable competitors include Amazon Prime and Hulu which rival the company’s dominance in the streaming business as well as Acorn.tv and others.

Tell us about your favorite shows on Netflix.

Image Credit – TechRadar